Reading Notes- Mahabharata, Part B

House of Fire by unknown.

Part B of the Mahabharata was very much focused on family and the sacrifices that family members make. Compared to be Part A, this part was much easier to understand since the names and characters were all clear. They also had fewer characters, I think, than Part A so it was easier to process and enjoy. I used the stories based on the public domain of the Mahabharata.

The first story I'd like to focus on is called "House of Fire". I really enjoyed this story, probably more than I expected. The descriptions of the house touched something in my heart and I'm not quite sure why. The picture I got in my head of beautiful tapestry soaked in oil reminded me parts of childhood. I think the picture that was included was also helpful in conceptualizing exactly how the family escaped. Instead of the idea of miracles helping characters escape, this story was more based around logic and escaping the palace in a strategic way. I also got a real feel of what Prince Bhima is. This was his introduction to be more than just a baby. He is not portrayed as the wisest but he is shown to be the leader of the family. He heads his mother's positioning on this often, as that is shown even more in the later stories. As for the escape itself, I think it was kind of brilliant. I think most stories have the main characters strategize a way of whatever place they are kept in. For this family, not only was the escape on someone else's part, they got away kind of scotfree. There just happening to be another family of the same size and gender being at the palance and getting killed was a fortunate ending that the family doesn't even know about. The dramatic irony is not something that is common in any of the Indian Epics I have read so far and find it quite refreshing.

The second story I really enjoyed was the story of "Vaka". This obviously poor family was another reflection of a family unit in the climate of the Mahabharata. Instead of pushing a child or husband to go as the blood sacrifice, each family member of the host family offered up their lives to keep their family safe. Something that was not very focused on was also how willing they were to make their home a place of shelter for the royal family even though they only saw them as equally poor travelers. It was fortunate that Kunti was able to aid them with her son, but I also enjoyed just how pleased she was to see him. Up until now, most family relationships were based around what a family could do or provide.

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